Woman Who Gave Birth in Walmart Insisted on Paying First

Paper, plastic, or diaper bag? A woman shopping Sunday morning at a Walmart in Payson, Utah, surprised workers and customers when she approached Register 11, dropped to her knees, clutched her stomach, and … pulled out her wallet. She was in labor, ABC News reports, but she insisted on paying for her items first before she took care of her next transaction: having the baby right there in the store. "We weren't really interested in taking her money at [that] point, but she insisted," says Walmart manager Dustin Haight, who KSTU notes called 911 and implored her not to worry about the tab. "It wasn't like she was like, 'OK, let's get this baby out and [then] I'll pay.' She paid and then had the baby."

As soon as the woman, identified as Cecelia Rivas by the Daily Herald, had paid up, employees and customers sprang into action, with some hunting down towels and blankets while others held sheets up to give her privacy. "By the time the EMTs got here, she had … a baby [boy]," Haight tells KSTU. "She was very calm," an assistant chief from the local fire department adds. "It was her third child … so I don't think she was as nervous about it other than it was at Walmart." Rivas admits she actually was "really scared," though she tells the Herald as soon as she saw her new son, "I was so happy." A spokesman for the hospital where Rivas and baby Matias were taken says they're both "doing well," per ABC. And Haight is counting on a new repeat customer. "Hopefully we'll be part of his life forever," he tells ABC. (A text-messaging conversation about this Walmart shopping trip went viral.)